Janes Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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{{coord|42.73900|-87.78557|display=title}}▼
{{Infobox building
▲| coordinates = {{coord|42.73900|-87.78557|display=inline,title}}
| name = Janes Elementary School
| image = Janes Elementary School, Racine, WI, 2004.JPG
| building_type = Elementary school
| location = 1425 [[North Wisconsin Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|North Wisconsin Street]]<br/>[[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]]
| start_date = 1855
| opened_date =
| owner = [[Racine Unified School District]]
| developer =
}}
'''Janes Elementary School''' is an [[elementary school]], serving kindergarten through grade five, located at '''1425 [[North Wisconsin Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|North Wisconsin Street]]''' in [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]]. Part of the [[Racine Unified School District]], the original school building was
==History==
The land on which Janes was built was donated to the village of Racine in 1839 by Lorenzo Janes.<ref name=history-1924/> This area consisted of what is now the north half of the city block bounded by Kewaunee Street, North Wisconsin Street, Barker Street and North Main Street. The south half of the same block was donated to the village in 1840 by Gurdon S. Hubbard, on the condition that if no public building was built there within five years, ownership of the land would revert to Hubbard or his heirs. The Racine Board of Education discovered in 1960, over one hundred years after Janes first opened to students, that this condition was never met, and that the school's playground was technically owned by Hubbard's descendants. The board, and the city of Racine, argued that it retained ownership of the land through {{w|adverse possession}}.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55003846/the-journal-times/ "Name Elementary School for Walter S. Goodland"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 13, 1960, page 4.</ref>
The land on which Janes was built was donated to the village of Racine in 1839 by Lorenzo Janes. Construction on a two-story brick school building at the site began in the fall of 1855, which opened as the Fourth Ward grammar school in 1856. It was one of the three grammar school buildings built in Racine at that time,<ref name=history-1924>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54646799/the-journal-times/ Janes School, Its Past and Its Present], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 30, 1924, page 10.</ref> along with the [[Racine Civil Leaders Academy (Wisconsin)|Third Ward]] and [[Julian Thomas Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Fifth Ward]] grammar schools, all of which survive in some form today. The original Fourth Ward school building housed four teachers and approximately two hundred students. The building was expanded in 1883, adding four more classrooms, including a large assembly room for fifth through eighth grade students.<ref name=history-1924/>▼
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In 1897, the original part of the building was demolished, and replaced with a three-story building with eight classrooms, attached to the 1883 addition. At the same time, the Board of Education unanimously voted to name the school for Lorenzo Janes, whose son was then serving as the city's mayor.<ref name=history-1924/><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54647396/the-journal-times/ "A Change in Fuel; May Decide to Heat School Buildings With Soft Coal"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 30, 1896, front page.</ref> The first electric lights were installed in the building in 1922. In 1923, the Racine Day School for the Deaf began occupying two rooms in the Janes building.<ref name=history-1924/>
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In 1993, Janes was chosen to become the first school in Racine to experiment with {{w|Year-round school in the United States|year-round schooling}}, which eliminated summer vacation in favor of month-long breaks distributed throughout the year. Year-round schooling at Janes began in July 1994.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/janes-goes-year-round/article_d5be00c0-ae3c-53e7-af76-f2d09008a0e9.html "Janes goes year-round: Big support from parents, staff"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 16, 1993.</ref> The experiment was successful, and the year-round schedule was made permanent in 1998. In 2012, the [[Racine Journal Times]] found that teachers, students, and parents were happy with the alternative schedule, arguing that the lack of a long summer vacation reduced the amount of re-learning that would otherwise be required in fall.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/education/year-round-school-at-janes-elementary-remains-hugely-popular/article_d107fdb8-7cd9-11e1-88c8-0019bb2963f4.html "Year-round school at Janes Elementary remains hugely popular"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 3, 2012.</ref> However, the Racine Unified School Board found that Janes students were struggling academically, compared to students at other schools in the district, and the alternative schedule caused problems for nearby residents. With one board member describing the schedule as a "noble experiment", the board decided to end year-round schooling at Janes in 2016. Reportedly, few Janes teachers or parents came to school board meetings leading up to the decision to defend the alternative schedule.<ref>Knapp, Aaron. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/board-approves-end-of-year-round-school-at-janes-school/article_069eae90-7bfd-5a20-b2e6-c11f59e4d760.html "Board approves end of year-round school at Janes school"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 19, 2016.</ref>
In December 2015, six kindergarten students in the Racine Unified School District were reportedly suspended for performing simulated sexual acts at school. While the district refused to publicly comment on the allegations or name the school that the events took place at, the [[Racine Journal Times]] spoke to parent volunteers who confirmed that it took place at Janes. Janes principal Kimberly Romero and the kindergarten teacher in question did not return from winter break, and were replaced with substitutes in January 2016.<ref>Knapp, Aaron. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/unified-still-mum-on-kindergartners-suspended-for-simulating-sex-acts/article_aefe9a6b-1701-5d2f-9d4a-e5b80cfd5ed8.html "Unified still mum on kindergartners suspended for simulating sex acts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], January 15, 2016.</ref>
Racine Unified announced in 2019 that Janes would eventually be closed as part of its "long-range facilities master plan." Under the plan, the school would be merged with [[Roosevelt Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Roosevelt Elementary School]], which would be housed in a new building.<ref>Sievers, Caitlin. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/proposed-plans-for-unified-buildings-phase-one/article_61347c11-d6bf-579b-9cdc-2b315d47b1e6.html "Proposed plans for Unified buildings, Phase One"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 3, 2019.</ref>
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* Richard Fornal, 1986-1987<ref>Taylor, Barbara. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54654364/the-journal-times/ "Unified appoints six principals"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 19, 1987, page 3A.</ref>
* Lawrence Terry, 1987-1990<ref name=terry-may1990/>
* Deborah Coca, 1990-2010
* José Martínez (acting principal), 2010<ref>Thoreson, Bridget. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/janes-elementary-principal-on-leave/article_ae5b5fc8-b550-11df-9626-001cc4c002e0.html "Janes Elementary principal on leave"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 31, 2010.</ref>
* Walter Robles, 2011-2015<ref>Thoreson, Bridget. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/unified-announces-principal-assignments-for-elementary-schools/article_ddede462-6d25-11e0-93b2-001cc4c002e0.html "Unified announces principal assignments for elementary schools"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 22, 2011.</ref>
* Kimberly Romero, 2015<ref>Knapp, Aaron. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/new-principals-named-for-nine-unified-schools/article_a99e26c2-1ae5-5e7f-9ebd-1e0f23701a44.html "New principals named for nine Unified schools"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 27, 2015.</ref>
* Dr. Evelyn Resto, present<ref>[https://www.rusd.org/janes/ Janes Elementary School], rusd.org</ref>
==References==
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